An Exclusive Club
by SadaraLochlan
Summary: Enduring yet another promotion ceremony that doesn't include women joining the ranks of starship captains, Sadara Lochlan and fellow female Commanders decide to stand apart.


**While I understand that Enterprise had Captain Hernandez, I think that the writers forgot about TOS episode, Turnabout Intruder where Captain Kirk and Janice Lester talked about how women were still not allowed to be starship captains at that time. Captain Sinclair of the Saratoga in The Voyage Home was the first female captain seen as far as I know and this fic is written with that in mind.**

On the dimly lit balcony, elevated from the proceedings below them at the same time subjugated once again by the same, a small group of female Starfleet officers had gathered. Their presence, segregated from their fellow officers attending the promotion ceremonies, was deliberate and intended to repeat a message year after year at this specific gathering, though their efforts to break their glass ceiling they were pinned under was an ongoing, ceaseless effort.

The first year of observing from the balcony initially held no such message. Commander Sadara Lochlan had simply been disgusted, yet again, that no females were welcomed into the ranks of starship captains and wanted as far away from the ceremonies as possible without getting her ass into a sling with her superiors. Her heart sank to know that her good friend, Margaret Sinclair had been passed over for a well deserved promotion to the captaincy. Commander Sinclair, who had every qualification for starship command, except what appeared to be the most important and desirable one; being of male gender for her species.

Commander Lochlan had been joined by her best friend, Commander Kathleen Bradley and Margaret Sinclair as well as other female Commanders around Starfleet in quiet camaraderie upstairs. They had recognized the reason for her ire and felt similarly. All had been first or second officers of a starship at some point in their careers. A few, like Commander Sinclair, still were.

The first year, they had observed the promotion ceremonies in polite, respectful silence, but as soon as the gathering was dismissed, they broke out into quiet chatter, unaware that one Admiral James T. Kirk had been eavesdropping quietly from around a corner. Normally, he would never even have considered such a violation of privacy, but he had noticed the little gathering up above and recognized that they were all female Commanders who had maxed out on their promotion opportunities unless something was done. As an Admiral, his rank might unintentionally clam the women up if he were to talk to them face to face. As much as the charismatic hero of Starfleet disliked this passive aggressive approach to information gathering, he was itching to hear what the women had to say in all their openness and honesty. Captain Spock had joined the Admiral a few moments later and the Vulcan/Human hybrid had simply raised a curious eyebrow as Kirk put a finger to his lips.

"Well… on a positive note, we can count Andorian males among starship captains now," quipped Dellis Shos. She was an energetic Andorian female who had been the first officer of the Melbourne for going on five years now. The other women craned their necks to look at her curiously, unsure if that was sarcasm they detected in her voice.

Commander Sinclair regarded her blue skinned compatriot seriously. "This must be especially frustrating for you given that the genders are treated more equally in your culture."

"Sometimes," Shos said quietly, pensively. "But I knew some barriers still needed to be broken here when I signed up. No organization is perfect. Not even Starfleet. Little by little, year by year, the captain's club is seeing more diversity. We just have to keep fighting for it."

"And it's not even about the big chair on a starship really," Sadara Lochlan pointed out, learning on the balcony wall. "That's part of it, but look at me? I can't even get captain's bars in a ground assignment. I have time in grade. I meet the qualifications to step into the section commander slot, but when Captain Patil accepted the Admiralty, the powers that be plugged in a, you guessed it… man to fill the vacancy. And guess who had to train him? You know, because I've been with the section so long and could teach him the ropes."

Despite themselves, the other three snickered at the unbridled sarcasm tingeing the longtime counselor's voice. Commander Sinclair shook her head in disbelief.

"We all heard what Captain Wyle did to you after the Vulcan/Orion trade run dispute. I think every woman in Starfleet was nauseated after hearing about that," she said, her voice soft, but firm.

Commander Shos leaned forward, resting her elbows on the almost chest high wall and craned her head to glimpse Sadara around Sinclair. She brushed her gleaming white hair back behind an ear. "I heard the general story, but not too much in the way of details. It was kept pretty hush hush among the captains and admirals in the fleet so we got mostly rumors I think."

"I can't even begin to tell you how shocked I am by that, Dellis," Sadara's tone ever more sarcastic as she tugged on the high white color of her uniform. She hated the stiff "monster maroons" and felt like she was suffocating in them a hundred percent of the time. At least the miniskirts of the previous decades allowed for ease of movement.

"I was second officer of the Essex at the time," the Vulcan/Human hybrid continued. "We'd responded to a distress call from a Vulcan vessel who had been attacked without provocation by a ship of Orion smugglers. By the time we arrived, two more Orion ships were joining the festivities. We lost both Captain Chang and Commander Ford in the final moments of the slugfest. Fortunately, a couple more good shots destroyed the remaining Orion ships. And by fortunately, I mean that simply disabled would have meant a time race to see who could get up and running again first. By no means did I want any more loss of life, but the truth is I was relieved that we could immediately turn our attention to our own dead and wounded and damaged vessels. The Essex was practically derelict at that point and many sections weren't even habitable until life support could be restored to those areas."

Letting out a deep breath, Sadara decided to cut to the chase and get to the part they wanted to hear about.

"Long story short, the first responding vessel was the Potomac. I got Captain Wyle on screen and he seemed very taken aback that I was sitting in the command chair and not Captain Chang, which I understood completely. I would imagine as a starship captain, the last thing you want is to respond to something like that and discover that one of your classmates and fellow captains was killed in action. But then he turned to his first officer, right in front of both bridge crews and ordered him to beam over to the Essex and assume command. I was incensed because I realized it was being done because "women aren't left in command of starships" and I reminded him that by regulations I was technically in command of the Essex at that point. Of course he shoved his rank down my throat. So here I am wanting to fight him on this point because what he was doing was unfair, but at the same time with so many wounded and the ship derelict, it would have been selfish and unprofessional of me to waste precious time arguing over principles, oppression, and regulations."

Rubbing at her temples, Sadara looked up at the ceiling and blinked back tears. "Deep down I know I did what was necessary for the wellbeing of my crew and the crew of the Vulcan ship, but I still feel guilty and ashamed for relinquishing the center seat without more of a fight. I can't help but feel that I'm part of the reason we're all sitting up here still hoping instead of out there doing. Though technically, it should have been a battlefield commission, I'm not listed as ever having been captain of the Essex."

Shos smiled gently. "You did the right thing. You did what a captain should do; put the crew first. Captain Wyle should never have put you in that position."

"You know what I don't understand?" Commander Bradley wondered aloud in her thick Irish accent. "What is it about women that Starfleet brass doesn't think is suitable for starship command?"

"PMS?"

"Physical strength?"

"We're shorter and smaller so not enough physical presence?"

"They think men won't take orders from women?"

"Who knows?" Sinclair mumbled.

"You know what?" Sadara said, obviously pondering a spur of the moment idea. "We should do this every year a new set of captains are commissioned… Sit up here and leave our accomplishments for the year on a datapad. All those accomplishments that further the careers of the men above us, but never our own. And leave the datapad here where someone can find it. Who knows? Maybe they'll read it and pass it on."

That made Sinclair grin, her bright smile a stark, but brilliant contrast to her dark skin. "I like that. And if one of us finally makes it, we have to keep it a secret until the rest are all up here. We should all have hope as we enter this building that one year we'll climb these steps to the balcony and one of us will be missing because she'll be sitting down there pinning on captain's bars instead of up here still hoping."

"And we keep coming up here each year until each one of us makes it," Bradley chimed in excitedly.

"And open it up to new members," Shos nodded. "We won't be the last female Commanders looking for a promotion, I'm sure."

"Well, no time like that present," Sadara said as she handed her spare datapadd over to Sinclair. "And afterwards, we'll take our newly minted club out to the karaoke bar for drinks. It may not be the captain's club, but at least we have each other and that makes it less lonely around here."

Remaining hidden until the women filed out several minutes later, Kirk retrieved the datapad left sitting on the balcony wall. That morning he had anticipated some light reading of the fictional novel variety, but the accomplishments of a group of female officers would make for even more enlightening reading.


End file.
